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Apr 7 Blog

The Exodus: Fact or Fiction?

Does archaeological evidence connect with Israel’s Exodus from Egypt—a central event in the Bible? Egyptian artifacts and sites show that the Biblical text does indeed recount accurate memories from the period to which the Exodus is generally assigned.

Late-15th-century painting of The Last Supper by the Spanish artist known as the Master of Perea.

Mar 31 Blog

Was Jesus’ Last Supper a Seder?

By: Jonathan Klawans

Many assume that Jesus' Last Supper was a Seder, the ritual Passover meal. Examine evidence from the synoptic Gospels with scholar Jonathan Klawans.

Mar 19 Blog

Biblical Bread: Baking Like the Ancient Israelites

By: Cynthia Shafer-Elliott

A team from the Tell Halif archaeological excavation made their own tannur, a traditional oven referenced in the Hebrew Bible, and baked bread in it.

Mar 14 Blog

Origins: 3.14159265…

By: Kim Jonas

Why did the ancients invent increasingly subtle and ingenious methods to arrive at an exact value of pi? Human curiosity.

Bowl decorated with recumbent lions and calves before the symbol of the god An (BLMJ 4564). Photo: David Harris

Mar 10 Blog

10 Great Biblical Artifacts at the Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem

By: David Moster

10 The Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem houses one of the world’s most important collections of Biblical artifacts.

Stela from El-Amarna, Egyptian King Akhenaten is seen with his wife Nefertiti and their daughters bearing offerings to the sun-disk Aten.

Feb 24 Blog

Akhenaten and Moses

By: Robin Ngo

Pharaoh Akhenaten, who abolished the Egyptian pantheon and instituted worship of a single deity, the sun-disk Aten, in the mid-14th century B.C., may have established the world’s first monotheism. Did this influence the birth of Israelite monotheism?

An excavated site showing several large clay storage jars (pithoi) in situ. Photo: ASOR, Punic Project/James Whitred

Feb 22 Blog

At Carthage, Child Sacrifice?

By: Robin Ngo

Was child sacrifice really practiced at ancient Carthage? In BAR, Patricia Smith discusses the research she and her team conducted on the cremated remains from the Carthage Tophet.

Roman Catacomb Painting at the Catacombs of Santa Priscilla. Image courtesy James Tabor.

Feb 15 Blog

The Last Days of Jesus: A Final “Messianic” Meal

By: James Tabor

On Wednesday Jesus began to make plans for Passover. He sent two of his disciples into the city to prepare a large second-story guest room where he could gather secretly and safely with his inner group.

Moses, pictured here in a painting by 17th-century Baroque artist Guido Reni. Alinari/Art Resource, NY.

Feb 14 Blog

Love Your Neighbor: Only Israelites or Everyone?

By: Richard Elliott Friedman

The Book of Leviticus tells us to love our neighbors, but who are our neighbors? Does the command mean to just love fellow Israelites—or everyone?

Jan 31 Blog

Ivory Pomegranate Revisited: A Relic from Solomon’s Temple?

By: BAS Staff

The famous inscribed ivory pomegranate, which, if authentic, may have been the head of a scepter from Solomon’s Temple, has endured decades of debate. Is the inscription real, or is it a forgery? A meeting between world-class paleographers in the summer of 2015 may have settled the debate.

Must-Read Free eBooks

The Dead Sea Scrolls: Past, Present, and Future

Biblical Peoples—The World of Ancient Israel

Who Was Jesus? Exploring the History of Jesus’ Life

Ancient Israel in Egypt and the Exodus

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